Combination screen and grid bars



June 9, 1964 1.. H. SMITH 3,136,004

COMBINATION SCREEN AND GRID BARS Filed Sept. 7, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG! IN V EN TOR. LOF TON H. SM I TH June 9, 1964 1.. H. SMITH 3,136,004

COMBINATION SCREEN AND GRID BARS Filed Sept. 7, 1960 2 Sh ets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR. LOFTON H. SMITH United States Patent O 3,136,004 CGMBINATION SCREEN AND GRID BARS Lofton H. Smith, 2164 Collins Drive NW Atlanta 18, Ga. Filed Sept. 7, 1961], Ser. No. 54,445 6 Claims. (CI. 19-95) This invention relates generally to cleaning surfaces for cleaning and opening machinery, and more particularly to a combination screen and grid bar which at least partially encircles the cylinder of a cleaning machine.

Adjustable grid bars have been and are now being used extensively in the textile industry to provide cleaning surfaces for opening and cleaning machinery. While grid bars possess many advantages, they are not wholly suitable for use adjacent the upper portions of a cylinder since the upper surfaces of these bars are disposed substantially horizontally and thus provide a shelf upon which the trash and dirt may be deposited. Instead of falling through the grid bars and into the trash chamber, the air currents created by the rotating cylinder and the moving stock will draw the trash off said surfaces and toward the cylinder and the trash will be mingled with the stock being processed.

Furthermore, the mounting of grid bars on a machine once the machine has been assembled is a complicated and tedious task requiring many manhours.

With these ditficulties of the prior art in mind, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a cleaning surface which may encircle a cylinder and provide eflicient cleaning over its entire surface.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cleaning surface which may be installed in an asembled machine in a very simple manner.

A further object of this invention isto provide a device of the character described which is adjustable laterally so as to be accommodated in machines of various width.

These and other objects ancillary thereto are accomplished according to a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein a frame is provided having arcuate side members notched at their upper ends. Grid bars are provided along the lower portion of the frame members and a cleaning screen is provided along the upper portion thereof. The device is then attached to a cleaning machine in such position with respect to the cylinder that the cleaning screen is disposed laterally of the cylinder and the grid bars are disposed below the cylinder.

The cleaning screen is formed with elongated slots along its marginal portion, and bolts are secured through the frame members and said slots to thus form an assembly which is laterally adjustable.

The screen member is corrugated and openings are formed in certain of the corrugations, the planes of which approach coincidence with radii of the cylinder with which the device is intended to be used.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

FIGURE 1 is a schematic side elevation of the invention incorporated into a cleaning and opening machine;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the combination screen and grid bars forming the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken through the grid bars and screen shown in FIG. 2;

- FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view of the invention illustrating same connected to the wall of an opening machine;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the plane defined by line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the grid bar mounting taken substantially along the plane defined by line 6-6 of FIG. 4, and

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view illustrating the mounting of the screen to its frame member and taken substantially along the plane defined by line '77 of FIG. 4.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 10 generally designates one type of cleaning and opening machine into which the present invention may be incorporated. Said machine has an inlet 11 and an outlet 12 V with a plurality of rotatable cylinders 14 being disposed therebetween. The cleaning device comprising the pres ent invention is generally designated at 16 and at least partially encircles the lateral and lower portion of each cylinder. A trash chamber 18 is disposed below the cylinders and cleaning devices to collect all the trash and dirt which passes through the cleaning devices.

Each cleaning device 16, FIGS. 1 and 2, is constructed of side frame members 19 arcuate in shape and formed of angular members having a frame supporting leg 20 disposed in the same plane as the side walls of a machine to which the device will be attached, and a cleaning surface supporting leg 22 disposed in the same plane as the cleaning surface. Each cleaning device 16 has a horizontally disposed frame member portion 24 forming a part of the frame and connected between the upper ends of arcuate members 19. This portion is actually one section of a planar marginal portion of the screen which is further 1 described below. The upper outer ends of arcuate mem- 7 upper surfaces of the grid bars.

bers 19 are provided with notches 58 which are adapted to accommodate the lower ends of the arcuate members of an upper adjacent cleaning section.

The cleaning surface proper is formed of a grid bar portion 26, FIG. 3, and a cleaning screen portion 28. The cleaning screen portion is corrugated and formed with solid portions 30 extending laterally between the arcuate members 19 and connecting portions 32 in which openings 34 are formed to provide exits for the trash which is shaken loose from the stock. A marginal portion 36 surrounds the screen and provides a surface for attaching the screen to the'frame. A plurality of laterally extending slots 38, FIG. 7, are formed through portion 36 for.

arcuate members 19 and are disposed perpendicularly.

thereto. Between said flanges 4!) the grid bars 42, of triangular configuration, are inserted. The flanges 40 are therefore spaced apart a distance equal to the Width of the Holding the grid bars in place between adjacent flanges 40 are two sets of cheek pieces 44 and 4-5, FIG. 4 which are notched at 48 along their upper surfaces so as to accommodate the apices of the grid bars and thus retain the grid bars in place. The check pieces are formed with inclined slots 50 and have bolts 52 passing therethrough and secured into the legs 24) of the arcuate members 19. It should be noted that the flanges 40 do not extend inwardly to the same extent as legs 22 of the arcuate members 19 and flanges 40 as well as the cheek pieces 44 and 46 and the bolts 52 are all disposed within the confines of the arcuate members 19. The grid bars 42 are secured in place at both ends and may be adjusted by loosening bolts 52 and sliding one or both of the cheek pieces 44 or 46. The grid bars 42 may be adjusted to perform varying amounts of cleaning and this usually depends upon the type of stock to be processed by the machinery.

Frame members 24, FIG. 2 have arcuate guide plates 54 connected thereto which project upwardly therefrom. A plurality of fingers 56 extend downwardly from each 7 Patented June 9, 1964' guide plate so as to be interdigitated with the grid bars of the upper adjacent cleaning section to thus reinforce the grid bars against excessive flexing and bending caused by the stock being forced against the grid bars by rotation of the cylinder.

In assembling the cleaning sections 16 into a machine, these members may be inserted through trash chamber 13 and from below the cylinders. While the cleaning section 16 is held in place, fastening means, such as bolts, are passed through openings in the side walls of the machine which have been previously formed. Said bolts pass through openings 60 in legs 20 of the arcuate members 19. Then the nuts 62 which are fastened on the ends of carriage bolts 6- passing through suitable openings in leg 22 of the arcuate members and slots 38 in the screen section, are loosened. Then the means for securing the bolts in openings 60 are tightened so that arcuate members 19 are pulled apart and are held tightly against the inner sides of the machine. This, of course, permits the cleaning sections to adapt themselves to any variations in the Width of the machine. Nuts 62 are then tightened on carriage bolts 64 and the screen section has thus been finally secured in place. The other cleaning members 15 are attached in a similar manner, it being noted that the lower ends of the arcuate members are first seated within the notches 58 of the adjacent lower cleaning section.

When all the cleaning sections have been secured, the grid bars may be adjusted by means of the cheek pieces 44 and 46 and, as shown in FIG. 4, the two sections of grid bars may be provided with different settings. it should be noted that with respect to the cylinder, the end of the grid bar section and beginning of the screen section is disposed at an angle with the lower vertical radius of the cylinder ranging from to 60 and preferably approximately It must be noted that there is a limitation on the maximum amount of opening which can be given to the grid bars. However, even if such a maximum opening is used, if grid bars are'disposed at any substantial distance above the preferred arrangement indicated above, then, a flat substantially horizontal surface is provided by surface 70 of the grid bars. And during operation of the cylinder any trash which is deposited on the grid bars will not pass therebetween and into the collection chamber, but will be drawn back into the stock because of the drafts caused by the rapidly rotating cylinder. Furthermore, since the upper surfaces of the grid bars are disposed in a substantially horizontal plane there will be great difficulty in forcing the trash through the openings between adjacent grid bars. If the grid bars are set to their minimum opening, then it will be practically impossible for trash to pass through these openings since in such an event the openings are small and the trash must be thrust therethrough against the force of gravity.

However, with the present invention, the stock will be traveling as indicated by arrow A of FIG. 3 and thus the cleaning screen permits a relatively large amount of trash to be passed through its openings 34. It should be noted that said openings are disposed in a plane which does not vary greatly from coincidence with radii of the cylinder. Of course, if it is desired that less trash be removed from the stock then it would be preferable to dispose the plane of openings 34 at an angle with said radii, or alternatively these openings could be constructed having a smaller vertical dimension.

In experiments which have been conducted wherein grid bars have been used in the lateral or upper portions of a cleaning surface surrounding a cylinder in contrast to a surface wherein a cleaning screen is provided at the lateral and upper portions in combination with grid bars, practically no cleaning whatsoever was performed by the grid bars when they were disposed above with respect to the lower vertical radius of the cylinder whereas the corresponding surface, when provided with a cleaning screen, performed the same amount of cleaning as the grid bars disposed adjacent the lower portion of the cylinder.

It should now be seen that the cleaning unit comprising the present invention provides a much more eilicient cleaning surface with respect to those cleaning devices used previously in this art. Furthermore, the simplicity in installation of these devices in place of an entire grid bar arrangement is relatively simple and many problems are obviated by providing the device with a lateral adjustment.

It is to be understood that the form of this invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A replacement cleaning section, for a fiber cleaning machine of the type including a housing having side walls and enclosing a series of cylinders disposed with their axes one above the other in an upwardly inclined plane and adapted to move fiber upwardly during cleaning, comprising frame means including laterally spaced, arcuate side channels, cleaning surface means mounted in said frame means for removing dirt and trash from fiber which is thrust thereagainst, said cleaning surface means including lower and upper portions, said lower portion having spaced horizontal grid bars, said portions being connected to each other at a boundary spaced upwardly from 30 to 60 degrees from a vertical plane including the lowermost grid bar, said upper portion being a curved metal sheet having substantially the same curvature as said arcuate side channels and provided with horizontal corrugations, each corrugation having a wall disposed substantially radially of said arcuate side channels and a supporting surface inclined to said radial wall, said radial wall having screen openings, means for adjusting the spacing and inclination of the bars of said lower portion to vary the size and inclination of the openings between grid bars, and means for reducing and increasing the span between said arcuate side channels whereby to enable insertion of said cleaning section into a cleaning machine between the side walls thereof and thereafter permit widening of the cleaning section to conform to the width of the cleaning machine and to enable fastening of one side of each of said arcuate side channels directly against an adjacent side wall of the machine.

2. The cleaning section of claim 1 wherein said arcuate channels of the frame means are notched at their upper ends to provide seats for the lower ends of the arcuate channels of an adjacent cleaning section.

3. The cleaning section of claim 1 wherein said cleaning surface means has laterally extending slots formed in side portions thereof, said slots receiving locking means extending through openings in walls of said arcuate channels other than the walls adapted to seat against the side walls of a cleaning machine, whereby to permit narrowing and widening of the cleaning section by reducing and increasing the span between the arcuate channels, said locking means being accessible from below said arcuate channels.

4. In a fiber cleaning apparatus of the type including a series of cylinders disposed with their axes one above the other in an upwardly inclined plane and adapted to move fiber upwardly during cleaning, a cleaning unit for each of said cylinders partially encircling the lower part of the cylinder, each said cleaning unit comprising a lower curvedportion having spaced grid bars parallel to the axis of the cylinder and an upper curved portion formed as a screen, said portions being connected to each other at a boundary spaced upwardly from 30 to 60 degrees from a downwardly directed cylinder radius normal to the horizontal, said upper portion being a curved metal sheet provided with corrugations parallel to the axis of said cylinder, each corrugation having a wall disposed substantially radially of and facing the direction of rotation of the cylinder and a supporting surface inclined away from the direction of rotation of the cylinder, said radial wall having screen openings, and means for adjusting the spacing and inclination of the grid bars of said lower portion to vary the size and inclination of openings between grid bars with respect to the direction of rotation and curvature of the cylinder.

5. In a fiber cleaning apparatus of the type including a series of cylinders disposed with their axes one above the other in an upwardly inclined plane and adapted to move fiber upwardly during cleaning, a cleaning unit for each of said cylinders partially encircling the lower part of the cylinder, said cleaning unit comprising a lower curved portion having spaced grid bars parallel to the axis of the cylinder and an upper curved portion formed as a screen, said portions being connected to each other at a boundary spaced upwardly from 30 to 60 degrees from a downwardly directed cylinder radius normal to the horizontal, said upper portion being a curved metal sheet provided with corrugations parallel to the axis of said cylinder, each corrugation having a wall disposed substantially radially of and facing the direction of rotation of the cylinder and a supporting surface inclined away from the direction of rotation of the cylinder, and said radial wall having screen openings.

6. In a fiber cleaning machine, a rotatable cylinder adapted to move fiber upwardly, a frame partially encircling said cylinder, said frame including two spaced arcuate members, a grid bar section connected to said arcuate members along their leading portions with respect to cylinder rotation and at least partially enclosing the lower portion of said cylinder, said grid bar section including spaced bars parallel to the axis of the cylinder and adjustably connected to said arcuate members to permit varying the inclination of the bars with respect to the direction of rotation of the cylinder, a cleaning screen section connected to said arcuate members along their trailing portions with respect to cylinder rotation and at least partially enclosing the upper portion of said cylinder, said upper portion being a curved metal sheet provided with corrugations parallel to the axis of the cylinder, each corrugation having a wall disposed substantially radially of and facing the direction of rotation of the cylinder and a supporting surface inclined away from the direction of rotation of the cylinder, and said radial wall having openings extending axially of the cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,031,937 Krall July 9, 1912 1,681,555 Onge Aug. 21, 1928 1,935,745 MacKenzie Nov. 21, 1933 1,956,488 Brennen Apr. 24, 1934 1,995,266 Moss Mar. 19, 1935 2,862,247 Vandergrifi et a1. Dec. 2, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 265,327 Great Britain Feb. 27, 1927 

1. A REPLACEMENT CLEANING SECTION, FOR A FIBER CLEANING MACHINE OF THE TYPE INCLUDING A HOUSING HAVING SIDE WALLS AND ENCLOSING A SERIES OF CYLINDERS DISPOSED WITH THEIR AXES ONE ABOVE THE OTHER IN AN UPWARDLY INCLINED PLANE AND ADPATED TO MOVE FIBER UPWARDLY DURING CLEANING, COMPRISING FRAME MEANS INCLUDING LATERALLY SPACED, ARCUATE SIDE CHANNELS, CLEANING SURFACE MEANS MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME MEANS FOR REMOVING DIRT AND TRASH FROM FIBER WHICH IS THRUST THEREAGAINST, SAID CLEANING SURFACE MEANS INCLUDING LOWER AND UPPER PORTIONS, SAID LOWER PORTION HAVING SPACED HORIZONTAL GRID BARS, SAID PORTIONS BEING CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER AT A BOUNDARY SPACED UPWARDLY FROM 30 TO 60 DEGREES FROM A VERTICAL PLANE INCLUDING THE LOWERMOST GRID BAR, SAID UPPER PORTION BEING A CURVED METAL SHEET HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME CURVATURE AS SAID ARCUATE SIDE CHANNELS AND PROVIDED WITH HORIZONTAL CORRUGATIONS, EACH CORRUGATION HAVING A WALL DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY RADIALLY OF SAID ARCUATE SIDE CHANNELS AND A SUPPORTING SURFACE INCLINED TO SAID RADIAL WALL, SAID RADIAL WALL HAVING SCREEN OPENINGS, MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE SPACING AND INCLINATION OF THE BARS OF SAID LOWER PORTION TO VARY THE SIZE AND INCLINATION OF THE OPENINGS BETWEEN GRID BARS, AND MEANS FOR REDUCING AND INCREASING THE SPAN BETWEEN SAID ARCUATE SIDE CHANNELS WHEREBY TO ENABLE INSERTION OF SAID CLEANING SECTION INTO A CLEANING MACHINE BETWEEN THE SIDE WALLS THEREOF AND THEREAFTER PERMIT WIDENING OF THE CLEANING SECTION TO CONFORM TO THE WIDTH OF THE CLEANING MACHINE AND TO ENABLE FASTENING OF ONE SIDE OF EACH OF SAID ARCUATE SIDE CHANNELS DIRECTLY AGAINST AN ADJACENT SIDE WALL OF THE MACHINE. 